Rock History

1980 – “The Blues Brothers” is in theaters. The film, directed by John Landis, brings to the screen characters developed from the recurring musical sketch “The Blues Brothers” on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.

2010 – Green Day perform at London’s Wembley Stadium before an estimated audience of 80,000. “Playing Wembley Stadium is kind one of those moments in your career when you just go holy s**t!,” says frontman Billie Joe Armstrong.

1942 – Paul McCartney’s birthday.
His resume includes The Beatles, Wings and an impressive solo career. Accomplished songwriter, either with or without John Lennon, he’s known for “Hey Jude,” Lady Madonna,” “Back In The U.S.S.R.. “Live And Let Die” and, of course, “Yesterday,” among countless others.

2013 – Pink Floyd’s entire catalog is available on Spotify. The band said their catalog would be unlocked if fans were successful in pushing the ’75 track “Wish You Were Here” past a million spins. The effort took less than four days.

1967 – The three-day Monterey Pop Festival begins. Jimi Hendrix (pictured with Brian Jones), The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin (with Big Brother & the Holding Company) make their first major appearances. Also on the bill are, the Byrds, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Eric Burdon & the Animals and Buffalo Springfield. Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones attends and introduces Jimi Hendrix. Later, Burdon & the Animals record a hit song about the event, aptly titled “Monterey.”

2022 – In conjunction with National Pride Month, Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale says she is “unapologetically bi-sexual.”  Hale is also in a two-decade long relationship with Halestorm guitarist Joe Hottinger. 

1970 – In a notable case of self-aggrandizement, Grand Funk Railroad spends $100,000 on a block long Times Square billboard to promote their “Closer To Home” album. Of course, the billboard features a huge picture of the band.

2022 -Metallica’s Lars Ulrich receives the Ærespris (Honorary Award) from the Danish Music Publishers’ Association.  He is recognized in part for his role in Metallica’s copyright infringement lawsuit against the streaming platform Napster and for his compositional work on classic Metallica tracks (“Enter Sandman”, “Nothing Else Matters” and “Master Of Puppets”).

1965 – The Beatles receive MBEs (Members of the British Empire). Some conservative MBE holders grumble that the honor shouldn’t go to a Rock band and turn in their awards. The Beatles get their MBEs just the same. After all, they about single-handedly saved the British economy. Later, John Lennon returns his MBE to protest the British government’s support of the war in Vietnam.

2016 – Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder speaks out against a controversial transgender “bathroom bill” during the group’s appearance at the Bonnaroo Festival. The Tennessee proposal would have public school students only use the bathroom corresponding with their sex at birth.